Dear friends, today we have the pleasure to introduce you to Engie Ezeldin, a 25-year-old Egyptian multidisciplinary artist based in Cairo and New York City. Engie studied fine arts at the Parsons School of Design in New York, and ever since graduating from the programme, she has been moving between Cairo and New York, finding inspiration to feed into her body of work.

Mathqaf: Dear Engie, it’s great to meet you! Could you please introduce yourself to our readers?
Engie: My name is Engie but most people call me Jojja. I am an Egyptian multidisciplinary artist whose body of work relies on illustration and animation. Art has been a constant practice in my life since I was young, I was blessed with encouraging and supportive parents who pushed me to pursue it on a professional level. My body of work is an extension to the thoughts, ideas and struggles that go through my head, the goal of the visuals I produce is to create a world where these struggles don’t exist, it’s the ideal world that I would love to live in.

Mathqaf: Where and what did you study?
Engie: I studied Fine Arts at Parsons the School of Design in New York.

Mathqaf: Could you please tell us about your practice more?
Engie: My practice embodies a unique coming of age theme; conversing topics of dialogue, internal monologue and womanhood. I experiment with a variety of mediums to visually transport viewers into scenes that are familiar yet surreal. My latest body of work tells the story of Antar and Adeela, two characters that are meant to portray a non-traditional Egyptian identity as they travel on a journey with no known beginning or end. I paint and illustrate little fragments of their journey with hopes to have its viewers want to be part of their world. I also create animations accompanied by music to offer a simple narrative and story to the vivid adventures Antar and Adeela go through.

Mathqaf: How do you work?
Engie: When I have an idea I want to explore with my art, I make sure to write it down in my notes on my phone in order to not forget it. Depending on what the idea is (animation or painting) I write down the different visuals I want to include in my piece. If I’m working on an animation, I draw an initial storyboard and begin to work digitally when my ideas are intact. Animations usually take several days to complete depending on their length and complexity. However, if I’m working on a painting/illustration, I begin drawing on the canvas right away because the visual is already in my head, I become very eager to complete it, I don’t want to spend time sketching it out on paper. I tend to finish paintings faster than I do animations. The one thing in common that I have between working with both mediums is that I always have music playing in the background when I’m working.

Mathqaf: Now, importantly, since music is vital for us: what do you listen to when you work?
Engie: My music playlist has a variety of genres and artists. However, I always find myself producing the best work when I’m listening to female artists such as Jorja Smith, Rosalia, Jhene Aiko, Felukah, Lizzo, ChloexHalle, Shay Lia, Saweetie, Jessie Reyez, Missy Elliot, Beyonce and many more. Their music speaks to me and inspires me to push my artwork to the next level. These female artists show authenticity and power in how they present themselves, something that is very inspiring to me and my artwork. My go to playlist when I’m working on my art is called “Relax Hoe”, it’s a carefully curated playlist by me that includes all the musicians and artists that inspire my work and my narrative.

Mathqaf: What themes do you pursue?
Engie: I believe the repetitive themes that my work portrays are themes about womanhood, identity, cultural duality as well as visuals from Egypt and NYC. Being an Arab woman that moves between Egypt and New York brings forth several ideas that I want to explore with my work. My work is a result of the experience I go through as an Arab woman that is situated between Egypt and New York City. I am faced with many obstacles in these different places of the world, one of them being the fact that I am an Arab woman in America as well as a westernised woman in Egypt. My body of work is my personal outlet to help me deal with these struggles and present them in a way that other women can relate to. I believe that the times we are living in now bring forth important stories about several conflicts, it’s very important to listen and understand the dialogue, as a creative it is important to contribute to this discourse with your practice, and that is what I’m trying to do.

Mathqaf: How has your practice changed over time?
Engie: I believe that the way I explore my themes have changed, I used to only depend on painting and illustration to explore my ideas but I eventually reached a point where I wanted to push myself and elaborate on what I’m trying to say with my visuals. Up until four years ago, all the artwork I produced was on canvas or paper, but now my practice takes shape in different forms such as animation, music, stop motion or simple line work, it all depends on what idea I’m trying to explore with my work.

Mathqaf: Could you describe a real-life situation that inspired you?
Engie: I don’t believe I recall a real-life situation that inspired me, inspiration comes to me in different forms. I am inspired by my mother, my family, my friends, my culture, my dreams, my music; the list goes on and on. I just make sure to write down the moment something inspires me in my notes so I can explore it further with my art.

Mathqaf: Do you have a dream project in mind?
Engie: Even though I don’t have a well-thought out dream project, the main base line of my dream project is to bring together creative women and work together on something monumental. There’s a common language that’s spoken between women and it is definitely something inspirational and beautiful. I would love to someday pursue a big project with that in mind. It may sound cliché and overrated to say something like that, but it’s definitely something that I find inspiring.

Mathqaf: What do you do outside your practice?
Engie: I love to dance! Dancing is such a great outlet for me. It automatically puts me in a better mood and it takes me out of my mundane daily routine. I love to dedicate time throughout the week to chill out with my girlfriends, this quality time becomes really beneficial for my mental state, our stories and humor definitely provide inspiration to my artwork. The latest project that I completed outside my practice was working on the animation for Cardi B and Meg Thee Stallion’s lyric video for ‘WAP’. This was a very exciting opportunity and challenge for me, it was the first time I was given a big opportunity to practice animation after being self-taught, this project gave me the confidence to keep pushing and bettering my skills.

Mathqaf: Lastly, why do you do what you do?
Engie: Art has been the one constant thing in my life that I never get bored of. I do it because it’s what I’m good at and it speaks to several people, especially women. The joy I feel when people tell me they love Antar and Adeela and that they relate to my work pushes me to keep creating.

Check out Engie’s website here and follow her on Instagram here.